Jody: This brings back bad memories of children misbehaving and hurting other children (I was mostly livid when my kids were the ones getting hurt) at Chuck E. Cheese's. Does the game room have any kind of sign posted saying adults must supervise their children?

Anne, I think there's a sign ate the entrance though I can't be sure. I know there wasn't anything posted around the area where the games were located.
Maybe my expectations were too high for this visit but I was really bothered by how absent some of the parents there were. It's fine if you have a child who's 8 years old but seriously? A toddler or even a preschooler running around unattended is not acceptable. It's a public restaurant, not a daycare.

Notify the management. I think parents would start to take notice if employees were corralling their children. I have done it play places. It usually the wake-up call parents need. I also have a loud voice that projects so most parents hear me reprimand their child. One way or another it will get a reaction.

I would have talked with management. Then hopefully they would have confronted the parents. If one of the kids tried to take something from my purse or taken my child's tokens or tickets I would have found that child's parent and most likely would have said some not so nice things...

I agree with Sabrina, I think the only thing you really could have done in this case would be to let an employee know about it. They wouldn't want kids walking on the games because of the potential for injury. It's also a good opportunity to remind your kids about appropriate behavior when you are out in public and why it's important to be nice to others when playing.

It's a tough call -- My memory is of an older boy in the cage with all the plastic balls hurling them like dodge balls at little kids. Do you reprimand the anonymous kid? Try to find a parent? Try to grab an employee older than a teenager?

My mom taught me one thing as a kid that I have taken fully into parenthood, the you are SO IN TROUBLE stare. I've used it at Chuck E Cheese and other places. Most of the time it works, either that or it scares the heck out of the kids, clearing ample room for my kids to play. When that doesn't work and when parents seem so absent (which I'm sorry, they seem to be absent often at Chuck E Cheese), take it up with management.

The last time I was at Chuck E. Cheese was about a year ago for my son's birthday.

I watched a young boy, maybe 4 at the oldest, steal a package of matches that an employee had with her pile of various birthday/work items. And yes, I realize that steal is a harsh word, but the way this kid approached it....well he was a pro. He palmed the matches and slunk off into the corner and started trying to light the matches. I informed an employee. At a place like Chuck E. Cheese, I'm not going to talk to any kid other than my own. People gets all sorts of crazy at the cheese: http://grahamten.wordpress.com/2010/02/20/a-history-of-chuck-e-cheese-violence/

I will say that the SO IN TROUBLE stare doesn't always work. Especially if you are short and look like the kid instead of the parent....

Could you try approaching the other parents and tell them the child is stealing the tickets and getting in other kids' faces? At least, the parents could have a chance to step in before the staff get involved.

I have had a few interactions where i have had to deal with children being very rude and uncontrollable who, I might add, where not my own. I am a firm believer that no particular way of parenting is better than the other, but i also believe that there are certain parenting rules that should be universal. Being respectful of other people, there belongings, and your surroundings, are some of those rules. Now, I don't like my parent techniques being questioned. In the past it has happened to me. However, the one thing i do remember, is that when my kids do something wrong, and another parent brings it to my attention, be it positively, or negatively, one of the first things i do, is get my child under control. Sometimes when you confront another parent, they may take to the defensive, and a slight disagreement may be the outcome. But over all, the lesson that you are also teaching your children, is more important than possibly angering another parent.
When someone acts inappropriately, and it is not ok, something has to be done. So long as you can stay in control of your self, and don't let the words of another get you upset, I believe the only way to handle certain situations would be to first talk to the adults. Had that not worked out well, then management would have been a second choice in my opinion.

This is something that happened to my son and I recently at a play place and since parents were not around and it was obvious that someone was going to get hurt before I could get someone there to assist the kids. I politely told the little girl that only one kid at a time can go down a slide,she was 5. Then there was a little boy around 3 and if he wanted to play with something he would either push the kid already playing with it out of the way or hit and scratch the kid, I did not say anything to him I just took my son away. I even seen this little boy standing outside of a ball area and keeping the door shut so other kids could not get out and also reach thru the door (it was the hard plastic with like bars on it) and claw the kids face. I have 6 kids ages 2-20 and I do not let them run around any place of these natures until they are the age I would leave them home alone....13 or so. With my little ones I am right there with them and I never go to these places unless I have someone else with me so I know that the little ones are being watched.
I would probably have found the parents if I was really upset by something and especially if the kid was stealing. If the parent did not do anything then I would go to management.

This is something me and my wife experience a lot lately and its kind of sad how often it happens. During the cold time of the year we like to go to the mall to the play area so that way my daughter and son get to play and run around besides at our house. It seems like everytime we go to play there always kids that to young to not be watched that are running around and terrorizing the other kids. The kids will push kids down or push them down the slide or block the slide from letting kids go down. Just all kinds of being bad or hurting kids and to me or my wife we just cannot sit back and let these kids keep doing it and get away with it. So we normally will tell the kid to stop doing it and if the kid doesnt listen we will normally make the kid take us to his parent and let them know what is going on. When we tell the kid to not do it we normally try to say it loud enough that the parent will hear it because normally you have no idea who the parent is seeing they are not paying any attention to the child. I think if you are not watching your kid which you should be you give everyone else the right then to discipline your child and scold them. I also think that it is horrible how many parents just think they can bring there kids to places and just let them run around without watching them what so ever. Now if they are old enough that is fine but these kids are not old enough. I wish the parents could get disciplined for not watching there kids like fine them or something lol